Waiting for the winds of change
to sweep the clouds away.
Waiting for the rainbow's end
to cast its gold your way.
Countless ways
you pass the days.

Waiting for someone to come
and turn your world around.
Looking for an answer
to the questions you have found.
Looking for an open door.

Well, you don't get something for nothing.
You can't have freedom for free.
You won't get wise with the sleep still in your eyes,
no matter what your dreams might be.

-Rush, 'Something for Nothing'

Waiting

Chapter 1
The Answer

"..while you're waiting for moments that never come," Yuffie murmured.

"What?" Cloud said. He had been close to sleep, when her sudden comment brought him back to the waking world.

"It's nothing.." she said, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Go back to sleep."

The young girl curled up against her lover, pulling the bedcovers closer as she rested her head on his shoulder. Outside, the cold wind howled, and the snowstorm showed few signs of abating.

She wondered how they had gotten here. A few days ago, it seemed that they had done little other than hover around one another, pretending that they didn't notice each other's presence. They had simply been drifting through life. Waiting.

Waiting for what?

And why had they been waiting for so long?

The answer could wait for a better time, she decided, as she drifted off to sleep. Perhaps the answer wasn't so important, after all. The question had been raised, and they were happy together.

For now, that was all that mattered.

A few days earlier..

It was a sweltering summer day, and the Avalanchers were gathered inside a refurbished 7th Heaven, which had become the group's unofficial headquarters since the end of the Meteor crisis. The place had been put together from bits and pieces salvaged from the original establishment that they had somehow, miraculously, recovered from the wreckage of Old Midgar. The new bar was quite a bit more spacious and a whole lot cleaner than it had been back in the day, but it retained the same congenial atmosphere as the old one. The back shelves were stacked with drinks, the corner with a working jukebox, and the upper floor was furnished with bedrooms, allowing the place to double as a rest stop for the group when needed. It was a good place to rest one's feet at the end of the day, in pleasant company and with a cold drink in hand. All things told, it was hard to beat a bar when it came to a base of operations.

Yuffie was seated at one of the tables, doodling away on a piece of paper. She wasn't a very good artist. In fact, her work might very well be mistaken for one of Marlene's sketches. But she enjoyed it nonetheless, and perfection was the last thing she was aiming at.

She was spending more and more time in Midgar as of late, mainly because her father had once again excommunicated her from Wutai, this time for accidentally burning down the top floor of his beloved pagoda. And though she had firmly stressed "accidentally", she knew that there wasn't much point in going back home until her father's blood pressure returned to normal levels.

Normally, she would be out and about, wandering through the city streets, but today she didn't feel like it. There was something keeping her in place. It wasn't boredom, exactly, nor idleness, or, perish the notion, thoughtfulness, but rather a sense that she was waiting for something, though for what, she couldn't tell. A sense of aimlessness, perhaps.

Yes, that was probably it.

Lately, the young ninja had been given to a lot of aimless wandering and fruitless perambulations, and she was far from the only one. The world was largely back on its feet again, which left the Avalanche crew with little to do, save from assisting with the reconstruction effort, or handling the occasional monster infestation. There simply wasn't much demand for a band of rogues like themselves during peace time, least of all a rogue with a penchant for five finger discounts like herself. So she, too, was simply left drifting for the time being.

She briefly contemplated the various relationships in which she had become entangled over the past two years, following the end of the Meteor crisis. With her continual banishments from home, the company of friends was most welcome. Tumultuous as her early relationship with the rest of Avalanche had been, she felt that they were the only group of people who understood her, and that she could easily get along with. And disparate thought the group's different elements might be, they were all ultimately bound by the same question: How to settle back into a normal life, a life of peace, following a war that, for most of them, had lasted for as long as they had drawn breath.

There was always the road, of course, but they all had the sense that whatever adventures they might find, they would be mild in comparison to the one they had all been through together two years ago.

Most of them did what they could to busy themselves with work, or whatever occupations or hobbies they had planned to pursue before their battle with Shinra and Sephiroth had interceded. Cid went on with his mechanical tinkering, Red with his planetary studies and so on. Yuffie had suggested that she might be able to improve upon Cid's new line of airships with a few tweaks and snips to the wires here and there. His reply had been something she had heard all too often before in her life:

"Grow up, Yuffie."

Growing up. Now, there was a notion that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The last time she had seen her father, before setting out on the journey that would lead to her joining up with Avalanche, he had told her that it was time for her to 'grow up and settle down'. She'd retorted by calling him an old goat, along with some less savoury names, then told him to get stuffed, before storming out of the Kisaragi household. Their falling out wasn't anything new. Butting heads with her father was pretty much routine as far as things went. Godo Kisaragi was argumentative by nature, and his daughter had inherited every last vestige of that trait. Rows like these were simply a part of the rubric of family life back in Wutai.

And now that balance had been restored to the world, that demand was slowly creeping back into her life again. 'Grow up and take your place in the grand scheme of things'. She could stave off her father's tentative attempts to get her to take up more 'mature' pursuits. But she couldn't help growing up.

Her materia hunting days were likely over, at least in any serious capacity. She figured she would probably continue to collect rare orbs that were of particular interest to her, but the obsessive and indiscriminate hoarding that she had undertaken two years ago seemed superfluous, even childish, now that the world was safe and her country's future was secured. She still maintained an interest in collecting them, of course, but it wasn't a life or death matter to her any more. It just didn't seem that important to her to own every last one that she could get her hands on. It was strange, how her old fixation seemed somehow immaterial, now that she'd had time to reflect upon it.

Gazing out the window, she realized that it was nearly dusk. Everyone had left for some function or gathering, or had an obligation to fulfill somewhere else around town, and they likely wouldn't be back for a day or two. The only people left were her, Cloud, and Tifa. She suspected that Barret was hanging around somewhere, but she hadn't seen him all day. He likely hadn't yet forgiven her yet for replacing his prosthetic hand with a giant electric toothbrush the week before, for April Fools'. It had been, in her estimation, absolutely worth it, as she was left rolling around on floor, laughing, while the realization dawned upon the big man. The look on Barret's face told her that he was not similarly amused. She continued to guffaw while he attempted ineffectually to shake his fist at her, which only served to magnify the absurdity of the situation.

Playing pranks on the other members of Avalanche was usually fun, though hardly something to make a living out of. Their reactions to her pranks varied from mild annoyance to sheer umbrage, depending on who her chosen victim was, and how severe the consequences of her practical jokes turned out to be. There was only one member of Avalanche who didn't rise to her shenanigans at all. The first time she had pulled a big one on him, he had simply gone along with it. She had swapped out Cloud's buster sword for a life-size toy replica that she had made. Unfortunately, later that day, they happened to encounter a larger-than-average clutch of monsters, and he'd had to tackle his share of them with the toy sword, which he did with admirable bravado, given his handicap. Once the battle was concluded, he had simply switched back to the genuine article. He never raised the subject that day. In fact, he had never spoken of the incident at all, though Yuffie knew he could hardly have missed her little switcheroo.

She wondered if it was simply stoicism on his part, or whether he was secretly trying to get one over on her by deliberately ignoring her prank. Maybe, she thought, he had just wanted to give the monsters a fair chance, for once. "Or maybe.."

Or maybe he simply liked her too much to give her a hard time over it.

"Nah, couldn't be.."

She observed Cloud, who was standing behind the bar, polishing glasses and arranging them back on the rack behind the counter. He didn't seem to know what to do with his newfound freedom, either. He had no relationship to pursue, no family to speak of, and few ties keeping him anywhere, save for those with his Avalanche buddies. He did his best to assist with the reconstruction efforts, of course, and did odd jobs and deliveries from time to time. But he had no real plans for the future, as far as she knew.

She knew that he and Aerith had had something between them in the past, but that hadn't worked out, for obvious reasons. That only left one possible outcome. After the dust had settled, he and his childhood friend, Tifa, were left standing, bruised but not beaten. The two of them deserved to be happy, everyone figured, but for some reason things had never quite clicked for the two of them. People had just sort of expected that the two of them would finally gravitate towards one another, form a relationship, and that this would neatly tie up the last loose end in their lives.

But life wasn't always that simple, and things didn't always tie up so neatly. That last piece never did fall into place. The two of them remained good friends, but it was clear by now that they would likely never be more than that.

The whole affair reminded Yuffie of something that someone had once said to her. "You know what life is?" they had asked, before supplying the answer to their own question. "It's the things that happen while you're waiting for moments that never come."

Though the question had been directed at her in an unctuous and didactic manner, she could neither shake nor dispute its conclusion.

She knew that Tifa was dating again, though she didn't know whom. Despite what some more churlish sorts might have suggested about her, she wasn't one to kiss and tell. She seemed happier, at any rate, perhaps relieved now that she was no longer burdened by other people's expectations of what to do with her life. As for Cloud, he simply busied himself with his work. If he felt even the slightest bit lonely, or upset by the dissolution of their relationship, he didn't show it. Then again, he wasn't one to make grand displays of emotion.

Tifa looked to be on her way out, leaving just her and Cloud tending to the bar, which was otherwise deserted. There had been no patrons that day, and the likelihood of any materializing was growing smaller by the minute, so there was little reason for them to keep the place open all night.

"All right, I'm off," Tifa said. "Can you guys close down the bar for me?"

"Sure," Cloud said.

"No problem," Yuffie said.

Cloud finished arranging the last of the glasses on the rack, then switched the back light off. He walked over to the jukebox, which was busy spitting out old rock and roll tunes, and pulled out the plug in the back. Wiping the dust from his hands with the bar cloth, he headed into the back storeroom to tally their remaining supplies.

"Guess it's just you and me, huh, Spikes?" Yuffie said, without looking up. She examined her doodle, an intricate little world of squiggly blobs and malformed buildings. Without realizing it, she had started sketching the blond swordsman into her drawing, a crude stick figure standing next to one that looked conspicuously like herself, alongside a square house and a crimson dog-thing which might have been Red XIII. Her cartoon masterpiece was as finished as was going to get, being that she had exhausted all possible spaces in which to draw anything. Drumming her fingers on the table, she let her thoughts wander once more.

She glanced over at Cloud again, as he went about closing up the bar. She had sometimes entertained the possibility that there could be something between them. During their journey across the world, she had sometimes stolen glances at him while he slept, or watched him from afar, taking in that handsome face and those haunting blue eyes. She had long been infatuated with Avalanche's leader, though she had tried to put it down as a mere crush. But that was something that was supposed to fade quickly, and it hadn't. Two years after their initial encounter, that attraction was as strong for her as ever.

Deep down, she hoped that the attraction might be mutual. Perhaps they would find themselves travelling somewhere together again, and she might find the chance to let him know how she felt. And perhaps he would confess that he felt the same way about her. At least, that was what she liked to imagine.

"But that would never.." she thought.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Cloud spoke up. She almost hadn't noticed as he came up to her.

"Hey.. uh... Yuffie," he said, hesitating. "Um, if you're not busy tonight... do you want to go out to see a movie, maybe?"

Cloud's hesitation struck her as odd. He actually sounded... timid. It was the strangest thing. She had seen him face down the most nightmarish of abominations without flinching, the kind of walking terrors that would send most sane men running for the hills. And she had stood right next to him as he squared off against a deranged demigod. But she had never seen him look so nervous, so uncomfortable in his own skin. It was almost like he was two different people. Intrepid god-slayer one moment, and the next... a shy, awkward kid.

It was quite the contrast. She'd seen him with murder in his eyes when they faced off against the one-winged angel, an icy look that, if she had not counted him among her friends, would have genuinely frightened her. It was hard to believe that it was the same person, but this schism in his personality was something that fascinated her. Felling monsters the size of skyscrapers? Not a problem. Asking a girl out? Jitters and nerves. She quickly filed this information in her head under "Cloud Strife's weak points", before returning to reality.

She was both surprised and more than a little flattered by his request, but as much as she wanted to simply leap out of her chair and shout "Yes!", she knew she couldn't let such a golden opportunity to make him squirm slip away. That imp on her shoulder was whispering in her ear again, telling her to be evil. Not much. Just a little..

"Hmmm..?" she replied, feigning innocence. "'Go out'?"

She stood up and walked over to him, thrusting her face forward, far beyond any notion of personal space, eyeing him with what she hoped looked like a perfectly innocent smile.

"You mean like... a date?" she asked, playfully emphasizing the last word. It was the right button to push. She could see his face slowly growing red, and his hand instinctively moving to the back of his head, as he pretended to scratch a non-existent itch, one of the tell-tale signs that he was nervous.

"... a date date?" she asked, tiptoeing slightly to offset their difference in height.

"Um... well.. yeah. I guess.." Cloud managed.

If she laughed now, she realized, it would probably be more devastating to him than a thousand Supernovas. "Well, at least I know his weak point..", she thought. But she wasn't feeling that cruel. Not today, at least.

Yuffie finally unshackled the grin she had been holding back ever since he had first asked. She had just wanted to hear him say it, before she let him off the hook. "I'd love to!" she replied, a bit more enthusiastically than she had intended. In truth, she felt like bouncing up and down a little, but she restricted herself to just one slight hop, clasping her hands together as she jumped up.

"Really?" Cloud asked, with a mixture of surprise and relief.

"Yeah. We've been cooped up in here all day," she said. "Let's go."

Yuffie headed for the exit, before turning around. "Oh, wait," she said. "Just need to grab a couple of things. Be right back!"

"Okay," Cloud replied, watching the young ninja as she bolted upstairs and into one of the bedrooms.

Yuffie pulled a small knapsack out from under her bed. She hadn't brought much with her. Some people lived in a suitcase. For her, it was more like living in a backpack. She rifled through its contents, grabbing her cell phone and what money she had brought from home, which wasn't much. Her standing in the world, her father had once informed her, ensured that she wouldn't go hungry, but neither would she waltz out of Wutai with the entire family fortune. It was true. She had tried it once, only to discover one of life's disappointing truths: Gold was heavy.

She looked at herself in the mirror for a second. No time for make-up, she thought. Not that she usually bothered with it, but tonight was becoming something of a special occasion.

"Ah, well... it's not like I saw this coming," she thought. Spur-of-the-moment was more exciting than planning the whole thing, anyway, she figured.

She hurried back downstairs. "You ready?" she asked. Cloud nodded, and they exited the bar, the last of the day's sunlight hitting them in the eye as they walked down the steps of the 7th Heaven.

"Can we take your motorcycle?" Yuffie asked.

"Sure," Cloud replied.

"Cool. Can I drive?" she asked.

Cloud paused, giving her a dubious look that said 'not if we both live to be a thousand'.

Yuffie shrugged. "Worth a shot," she said. She had expected as much. The Fenrir and its controls were sacrosanct as far as Cloud was concerned, and the chance of anyone else driving it anywhere were as remote as that of swine taking flight.

"You sure you're okay to ride?" Cloud asked as they mounted his bike. "What with your motion sickness and all.."

"Yeah, I just get sick on airplanes," Yuffie replied. "...And trains. And cars. And submarines. But I'm pretty sure motorcycles are okay."

Her companion gave her another dubious look.

"Well, we won't know until we try, right?" she added.

"Right," Cloud replied.

She paused for a moment, thinking. "Wait," she said. "Didn't you have motion sickness, too?"

"I'm fine, unless someone points it out to me," Cloud said.

"You mean, you don't get sick unless someone points out to you that you should be?" Yuffie asked.

"Something like that," Cloud replied.

"Weird," Yuffie said. She had heard of and witnessed plenty of strange things in her life, but Cloud's amnesiac motion sickness had to come near the top of the list.

Cloud shrugged. "Hold on," he said, turning the key in the ignition. Yuffie wrapped her arms around his waist. The Fenrir's engine roared as they took off down the road, driving down Midgar's crowded streets.

As the city was still in the process of being rebuilt, there weren't many movie theaters being operated in Midgar, infrastructure being a more important concern for its citizens than entertainment, so they had to drive clear across town in order to locate one.

Yuffie strolled down the movie theater's foyer, pulling Cloud along by the arm as she browsed the various movie posters. "Hmm..." she said, examining the description underneath one of the posters. "'The Man Who Would Be God'," she read. "'A brilliant but eccentric scientist unleashes deadly terrors upon the world's population in a bid for ultimate power'."

The young ninja rolled her eyes. "Seen it."

The two of them pressed on, moving onto the next poster. "'Night of the Walking Terrors'," Yuffie read.

"A monster movie?" Cloud said. "You'd think that everyone would be sick of monsters by now."

Yuffie shrugged. "Maybe they figure it's funny when it's not happening to them."

"I guess," Cloud said. "Still, I don't know about you, but I think I've seen about enough real monsters to last me a lifetime."

"Yeah, you're right," Yuffie said. "How about a comedy?"

"Sounds good," Cloud said.

"Let's see.." Yuffie said, reading the synopsis underneath the next movie poster. "'Three's a Crowd: A hilarious romantic comedy about a man caught up in a love triangle between two of his co-wor..'"

She paused, seeing the wilted look on her date's face. "Uh... never mind."

After some deliberation, they had finally settled upon the monster movie. None of their choices were particularly appealing, and almost all of them were re-runs from years back, since most of the movie theater's stock had been lost in the battle for Midgar.

The film itself was bawdy and cheesy as hell, a B-movie with an embarrassingly large budget, filled with wooden actors and leaden dialogue. All that was missing was the zippers running up the monsters' backs. On a normal day, Cloud would have cringed at their choice. But tonight he didn't mind. He could barely pay attention to the movie at all. All he could think about was the girl sitting next to him.

She seemed to be enjoying herself, chortling whenever one of the movie's obnoxious characters got gobbled up by some weird monster or another. They were about halfway through the movie, and they had finished most of their popcorn and soda. Yuffie had her hand on the arm rest between them. Moment of truth, Cloud thought. It was time for him to make his move. She would either accept his gesture and return it in kind, or reject it, give him a look that said 'creep', and they would spend the brief remainder of their date in awkward silence.

"Here goes nothing.." he thought, placing his hand atop hers.

To his relief, she did not rebuke his gesture, but turned to look at him, taking her eyes off the screen for a moment, a brief, surprised smile crossing her features. She turned her hand over, interlocking her fingers with his. It took them a moment to realize that they were both still wearing gloves, keeping them from actually feeling each others' touch. It was probably out of habit, but he was still wearing the leather gloves that he used for protection while driving, and she still had on her fingerless gloves, which she relied upon for climbing and other stealth-related activities. They both laughed at this, removed their gloves, then held hands again. Yuffie leaned over to his seat, resting her head on his shoulder. Cloud relaxed in his seat as well, relieved to find that the attraction he felt for the young ninja was indeed mutual.

Their little display had caught the attention of the other moviegoers. "Down in front," one of them shouted. "Get a room," another one called from somewhere behind them.

Annoyed, Yuffie threw some popcorn at the moviegoers heckling them. "Hey!" one of them shouted. Yuffie shot him a dirty look, before tossing the whole popcorn bucket at him. She and Cloud were just getting to a comfortable point with one another, and she wouldn't have anyone interrupting their date, certainly not at this moment.

The two louts behind them quieted down, and they resumed their embrace. Cloud was mainly glad that their little encounter had not escalated into a full-on confrontation. Though he had little doubt as to what the outcome of that confrontation would have been, the last thing they needed was to be permanently booted from Midgar's entertainment district for causing havoc.

About an hour later, the film's credits were rolling up the screen, and the two of them exited the theater along with a crowd of roughly two hundred people. As they reached the parking lot, Yuffie paused, patting her pockets. "Damn... I can't find my.." she muttered.

"What is it?" Cloud said.

"Um, could you call my phone for me?" Yuffie asked.

"Sure," Cloud said, dialling her number. The two of them followed the sound of her cell phone, heading back inside the theater, the chime coming from somewhere in between the auditorium's seats.

"Thanks," she said, picking up her phone. "Must've fallen out of my pocket."

"So, how about dinner?" Cloud asked, as the two of them headed back outside.

"Sounds great," Yuffie said. "I'm starving."

After wandering through the market district for a while, they finally found a place that was just right, not too formal, and not too casual. A place where you could enjoy a good meal in peace without being assaulted by a wine list longer than the main menu. Soft jazz played in the background, and waiters and waitresses scuttled to and fro, speaking in hushed tones and working quietly and efficiently to take and deliver orders. The two of them felt a bit underdressed for the place, but there was little to be done about that.

"So, what are you going to do with the rest of your life?" Yuffie asked, as they dug into their meals. She raised the question casually, but Cloud could tell that she was serious about the answer. It was, after all, something that was on everyone's mind. With unlimited freedom came the problem of what to do with it.

"That's a good question," he replied.

"And?" Yuffie asked.

"Wish I had an answer," Cloud said, shrugging. "I guess I'll stick around Midgar for a while, help rebuild. After that..."

He paused, shaking his head. "I really don't know."

They ate in relative silence for a few moments, smoked salmon and capelli d'angelo, respectively. It was a refreshing change from the freeze-dried rations that they had gotten so used to during their journey. The food was quite good, but neither of them was able to fully focus on their meal. There were too many things on their minds right now. Too many questions, and too many considerations, not to mention the person sitting at the opposite side of the table.

"How about you?" Cloud asked. "You getting roped into Wutai's politics?"

"Gods, I hope not," Yuffie said. "Have you seen our politicians? Those guys could bore slugs to death."

Though Wutai possessed a ruling council, which did its best to represent the will of the people, membership had, as long as she had known it, always been hereditary, not to mention male-dominated. She was something of a square peg in that regard. It had long chafed the older members of the council that Lord Godo could not remarry and sire a male heir for the Kisaragi line, which left her as the only viable heir to the throne. She liked the whole idea of it about as much as they did. But as much as she hated the thought of having to deal with the cantankerous fossils that made up Wutai's ruling class, she knew she couldn't ignore it forever.

"But... yeah," she added. "I'll have to go deal with all that noise, sooner or later. Hopefully later."

"What do you think you'll do?" Cloud asked.

"Well, I could always break up the council," Yuffie said. "Maybe turn Wutai into a republic."

"Giving up the crown, huh?" Cloud said.

"Just trying to avoid the work, really," Yuffie replied. "Someone else can worry about the politics. That stuff gives me a headache. I'd rather be travelling somewhere. Or with... someone."

She reached out for his hand, and Cloud returned the gesture. There was another brief lull in their conversation as they held hands, smiling at one another. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad, so long as they faced them together.

After a minute or two, they resumed their meals. "By the way..." Cloud said. "I've always wondered about something... What were you planning to actually do with all that materia once you'd stolen enough of it?"

"I prefer the term 'acquire'," Yuffie replied, clearing her throat.

"Okay, once you'd... 'acquired' enough of it," Cloud said. "What then?"

"Well..." Yuffie said. "The truth is, I was planning on selling most of it. Try to jump-start Wutai's economy, make the country less dependent on Shinra's hand-outs," she trailed off, picking away at the plate of pasta with her fork. "It sounds kind of stupid when I say it out loud.."

"I don't think so," Cloud said.

"You don't?" Yuffie asked.

He shook his head. "I think you were doing the right thing. Just maybe not in the right way."

He thought back to the time when she had run off with all of Avalanche's materia. At the time, he had been as angry with her as any of his companions, and he had told her flatly that he did not much care what her intentions had been. But over time, he had come to see things her way, even if he did not agree with her methods. Her little escapade had been tactless, brash and unconsidered, but it had ultimately come from purer motives than he would have expected from her.

"You always had your people's best interests at heart," he said. "It must be tough, having that kind of responsibility.."

Yuffie set her glass down, having finished her meal. Sensing that the conversation was getting serious, she decided to lighten the mood. "Come on, enough worrying about the future," she said. "Let's just focus on the now, okay?"

"Fair enough," Cloud said. "What do you want to do now?"

"Hmmm..." Yuffie said, reaching for the menu. "How about dessert?"

"Getting indulgent, are we?" Cloud said.

"We saved the world, didn't we?" Yuffie said, grinning. "I think we've earned a little indulgence."

"I suppose," Cloud replied. He couldn't help but smile, as well. Say what you would about Yuffie, her smile, when honest, was infectious, to say the least.

She placed the menu down on the table, indicating what she had in mind. One of those desserts designed for sharing. It was too big, and certainly too unhealthy, for any one person to consume.

Cloud gave her yet another dubious look. "'Waffle Ice Cream Mountain'? Are you trying to kill me?" he joked.

"Nah. Not intentionally, anyway," Yuffie replied, tongue-in-cheek.

A few more minutes passed, as their order was being prepared.

"What do you want to do afterwards?" Yuffie asked, as they waited for their order.

"I didn't really have anything planned, but.." Cloud said. "I suppose we could drive around town for a bit, see what there is to do."

"Sounds fun," Yuffie replied.

"You're not feeling queasy?" he asked.

"Nope," Yuffie said. "Not even a little."

"Guess we finally found the right ride for you," he said. "You ever consider taking up biking?"

"Not while I've got people to chauffeur me around," she replied, winking at him.

Cloud raised an eyebrow as the frosted behemoth arrived at their table. It looked even bigger than it did in the menu.

"Indulgence is going to be the death of me," he thought.

Their plans to go joyriding were cut short by the ensuing rainstorm. The rain came down in heavy torrents, and the wind was picking up, to boot. Cloud, having finished scouting the traffic ahead, made his way back to the bus station where they had temporarily taken shelter from the rain. Apparently, there was some sort of blockade at Midgar's main route, causing major traffic jams throughout the city.

"The main road's a no-go," he said. "Traffic's backed up for miles."

"Doesn't look like this rain's going to stop anytime soon, either," Yuffie said, peeking out from under the bus stop's roof. The young girl held a wrinkled newspaper over her head as a kind of makeshift umbrella, shielding herself from the worst of the rain.

As if to confirm their predicament, a message alert came on Cloud's phone. "'Bridge collapse near central highway. Zero casualties, but need all hands tomorrow for repairs.' -Reeve", it read.

"Great," Cloud said. "Well... I guess we could stop at an inn for the night," he suggested.

"Or a hotel," Yuffie pointed out.

"...Right," Cloud replied. He had forgotten that there were such things as hotels. Being on the road all the time, Avalanche hadn't had much choice of places to stay, other than tiny, cramped inns. Then again, what was a hotel but an inn with an army and a navy?

Passing through the nearby shopping district and the local arcade, they found a hotel near the northern public park. The hotel was very nearly booked up, leaving only one, rather expensive, suite. A few moments later, they were in their hotel room, drying off with the help of the hotel's complimentary towels. The suite was situated some twenty storeys up, and was fashioned with expansive plate glass windows, extending from floor to ceiling, giving them a magnificent view of the city. Through the pouring rain, they could see the city streets below, burning with brilliant lights, like neon fire. The once beleaguered Midgar was alive again with activity and vigour.

"You take the bed. I'll take the couch," Cloud said, as they settled into the room.

"Don't be silly," Yuffie said, sitting down on the hotel suite's sizeable bed. "There's room enough for both of us. Come on," she said, patting the side of the bed.

He sat down next to her. Another brief silence ensued between them, neither of them exactly sure what to say or do next. Being alone together was something they still weren't quite used to. At least, not in this way.

"So..." Yuffie said, clutching onto the sides of the bed, rocking her her legs back and forth idly.

"So.." Cloud replied.

"You know, I'm not feeling that tired," Yuffie said. "How about you?"

"Not really," Cloud replied.

"You wanna go do something?" Yuffie asked.

"Sure," Cloud said. "Doesn't look like the weather's letting up, though."

Yuffie thought about what to do for a minute. "Hey, how about that arcade downstairs?" she suggested.

"All right," Cloud said. "Let's go."

A few minutes later, they were down in the arcade district, one of the few places left where they could safely wander around without being deluged by the constant rain. The various arcades were brightly lit, bombarding them with flashing lights and noises, in stark contrast to the dark and quiet of the night surrounding them.

On the second floor of one of the arcades, near a balcony overlooking the exit, Yuffie spotted a moogle plushy inside one of the lucky catcher machines.

"Oh, I've always wanted one of those," she said.

"You know those things are designed to steal your money, right?" Cloud pointed out.

Yuffie shrugged. "I've got deep pockets," she replied. It wasn't true, exactly. She had earned and brought enough money with her to live comfortably, but not so much that she could squander it frivolously. That was the way she preferred it. Being dependent on hand-outs from home meant being dependent on the people back home, after all.

She slipped a gil into the machine, and took her best shot, catching the prize she had in mind. As the catcher's claw moved towards the chute, her prize slipped from its thin prongs, dropping back down into the patch of prizes and gifts.

"Drat," she said, slipping another gil into the coin slot. Same result. A few unsuccessful attempts later, she gave up the controls. "You wanna try?" she asked.

"What the hell..." Cloud thought, taking the catcher's controls. "Let's give it a go."

Though he doubted that he would have much luck in this endeavour, he tried his best to capture his date's newfound object of desire. She held on to his arm, cheering him on as he wrangled the controls. A couple of times, the machine looked as though it was ready to finally give up the prize, only to drop it again at the last moment, forcing them to play on.

As the two of them continued to play, there was a bustle behind them, followed by people running and screaming, fleeing from the arcade.

"What's going on?" Yuffie asked.

It wasn't long before they spotted the problem. In the flashing strobe lights behind them, they could see the shape of a poltergoyle fluttering about, looking as though it had just escaped from one of the video game cabinets. The creature was a kind of giant bat, with skin as hard as stone, but alarmingly fast, despite its size and weight. They had faced a few like it before, during their travels, and knew that they were no joke. They weren't the deadliest of monsters, but frightening enough in their appearance that the arcade was now quickly becoming empty, its customers abandoning all thoughts of entertainment as they fled for safety.

The poltergoyle zoomed past them, swooping down to the exit below, smashing the top off the lucky catcher as it flew past. Outside, they could hear more screaming and cries of surprise, as the critter terrorized the arcade district.

Cloud leapt into action, quite literally, vaulting over the balcony, dropping down to the floor below, wrenching loose one of the steel pipes from the nearby railings as he landed. It was no sword, but it would do in a pinch.

"Hey, wait for me!" Yuffie called, as he went after the monster. But he was already out the exit.

"Great.." she muttered.

Yuffie wandered around the increasingly empty streets of the arcade district, trying to find out which way her date had gone. She scanned the alleys and corners, while people around her fled in every which direction. After a few minutes, her phone rang. Cloud's number.

"..Miss Kisaragi?" a woman's voice said.

"That's me," Yuffie said. "Who is this?"

"The name's Kelly. I'm calling on behalf of a friend of yours."

"How did you know to call me?" Yuffie asked.

"Your name was at the top of the dialled number list," the woman replied.

"Ah, right.." Yuffie replied. She paused, wondering why some strange woman was suddenly making calls from Cloud's phone. Had he lost it somewhere along the way?

"You know that poltergoyle that was rampaging through the arcade?" Kelly asked.

"Yes?" Yuffie said.

"Well, it appears that your friend stopped it.." Kelly explained.

"Oh," Yuffie said. "That's good."

"...with his head," Kelly finished.

"That's... ungood," Yuffie replied.

Back in the hotel room, Cloud was lying on the bed, holding an ice pack against his forehead. It was now well past midnight, the two of them having just managed to stumble back from the arcade district and into their room in time for him to crumple into a heap on the bed. Yuffie had asked him whether he wanted to go to a hospital instead, but he had insisted that he was fine. Mostly fine, anyway.

Yuffie sat on the bed next to him, trying to inspect the damage. "Are you okay?" she asked him again.

Cloud grunted his assent, but said nothing.

"How many fingers?" Yuffie asked, holding up two in front of his face.

"...Five?" Cloud ventured.

"Close enough," Yuffie said, shrugging.

The young ninja headed off the bathroom to freshen up, before returning to bed. "By the way..." she said, as she sat down again. "It was kind of nice to get away from it all, for once."

She looked out over the city, watching the rain as it cascaded against the tall windows. "I had a good time tonight," she said. "How about you?" she asked, turning back to him.

There was no answer.

"Cloud?" she asked. But the blond swordsman was already asleep.

Though it was raining outside, it was still altogether too warm for covers. Feeling tired, she switched off the lights, removing her boots and socks, placing them at the foot of the bed. She paused for a moment, then removed her headband as well, leaving it on the nightstand. She remembered that Aerith had once joked that it was almost a part of her forehead, since no-one had ever actually seen her take it off.

It was a shame that their first date had been cut short by the incident at the arcade, she thought, but she figured that there would be plenty of time to make up for that later.

"Good night," she said, taking Cloud's hand as she lay down next to him, drifting off to sleep as well.

Cloud awoke with a slight headache the following morning. It was unpleasant, but nothing in comparison with last night's blinding pain. Yuffie was already awake, and talking to someone on the phone, by the sound of it.

"I understand, but.." she said, before being cut off by the voice on the other end. She wandered about the hotel room as she spoke. She seemed agitated, somehow.

"Does it have to be right now?" she asked. There was another long pause as she listened, sighing as she did.

"Yeah... okay. I see. All right, I'll be on the next flight out. Okay. Bye," she finished, closing her cell phone.

"Who was that?" Cloud asked, rubbing his temples, still sore from last night.

"My dad," Yuffie said. "He says I need to get back to Wutai for some council meeting. He says it's urgent."

"You're leaving?" Cloud asked, trying his best to mask his disappointment.

"Only for a couple of days," Yuffie said.

She went over to the counter, stuffing her belongings into her backpack. "Hey, you could come with me, if you like," she suggested.

"What about the rest of the gang?" Cloud asked. He was thinking about Reeve's message from last night, and all the repair work that awaited them. It was doubtful that they could get away on such short notice.

"Well, they can come too, if they like," Yuffie replied. "But listen, I really gotta run, right now."

She walked over to the bed where he sat. "Tell you what," she said. "why don't you come on over when you're ready? That way, you can bring the others, too. And if you guys can't make it, I'll meet you back here when I'm done. Shouldn't be more than two days, tops."

Cloud nodded. He hated to see her leave, just when something seemed to be happening between the two of them. But whatever was happening back in her hometown had to be important, so he didn't want to stop her, either.

"All right," he said, getting up from the bed, walking her to the door.

"By the way..." Yuffie said. "I had a really great time last night."

She took his hand for a second, lingering in the doorway, as if wanting to say something else. She seemed reluctant to go, but they both knew she had to.

"So... thanks," she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, before heading out the door. "See you soon, okay?" she added, as she left.

And with that, she was gone.

Cloud sat back down on the bed, cursing himself for his hesitation. He wondered whether he should go after her or not, but the moment had already slipped away. She was gone, and he was left by himself again, waiting and wondering.